Ignorance...

So this blogger's friend was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty by a man who it turns out was wanted for murder in Louisiana. This is her response:

And Katrina takes another….
When will the good people of this country stand up and be heard, and tell the Katrina parasites from Louisiana to go home? Mr. Nagin, you owe the rest of the country more than you can ever repay. You’ve got what you wanted, a subservient welfare culture, and you had them all bussed back to vote your dumbass back into office. Now, why don’t you send those busses back to where your voters now live, and make them come back home? You and your state’s Democratic policies are what have fostered this welfare, “gimme” mentality, and the rest of us are paying a very dear price for it.
When all is said and done, Louisiana will have paid a far lesser price for the damages done by Katrina. A year after the hurricane left, the parasites from New Orleans and the surrounding parishes continue to pollute society as long as they stay away from home. They demand their “rights” to free government housing, food, money, breast implants, jewelry, designer bags, etc. The time is now to get off your damn lazy asses and get your shit together. If you don’t like it here in Georgia, or in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, or any of the other places you’ve infested, then go the hell back home. We’re THROUGH with you here! I know our crime rate has risen immeasurably, and I for one am sick of it.
Mayor Nagin, and Governor Blanco… TAKE BACK YOUR CHOCOLATE CITY, so the rest of the world can get on with their LIVES! Too many Katrina evacuees are wreaking havoc in this country. Rapes, robberies, murders, fraud, theft, and the list just goes on and on. Enough is enough. Take it back, Mr. Chocolate City. No more free rides. It’s time to take responsibility for your actions and INactions. And don’t blame the federal government. Mississippi and Alabama have been on their feet for a long time now. Take your shit and go home.

Look, I can understand anger and hurt. But this is one of the most asinine ignorant things I've ever read. What kind of human being refers to another as a PARASITE? It seems to me the last time I head that terminology was Germany circa 1940.

I don't even deny some of this blogger's assertions. A lot of things are wrong with Ray Nagin, New Orleans, and Louisiana politics and that was the case long before anyone ever uttered the word "Katrina." There are some people, some evacuees, who have taken advantage of this entire situation. They ARE lazy and conniving and they have broken the law. And I'm sorry that this blogger has encountered one of them. But it's blanket accusations and assertions like this that just further these stereotypes and ignorant ideas.

Again, I'm assuming that much of the above is written out of emotion, but this blogger is not the only one to express ideas like this. And none of it comes from any more facts or education than a bit of heresay and personal experience. And that's worrisome to me.

I actually find what this blogger wrote personally offensive, but that's not really even my issue with it. It's the total lack of educated opinion and dirth of gross generalizations that really make me angry.

I wish this blogger could go to New Orleans and see what havoc was wraught. To say that since Mississippi and Alabama have gotten things together, New Orleans should to, is ignorant of the facts. Mississippi and Alabama aren't under sealevel. They weren't under 10, 15, 20 feet of water. They weren't unihabitable for months. I want this blogger to have seen what I've seen. I want this blogger to have seen what a crazy, backwards but vibrant city New Orleans was, and then go see it now. I want this blogger to meet New Orleanians who would give anything to be able to "take their shit and go home" as the blogger so flippantly suggests. Then I want the blogger to offer to de-mold their home. Or pay to have the home completely rebuilt. Or help do the rebuilding theirself. I want the blogger to lose absolutely everything they have ever owned. To have lost family members and friends and every single possession. And until the blogger has at least educated themselves a little bit to understand what happened to the people of New Orleans, I really don't respect what is being said.

I also enjoy the smear of Democrats, as if it were unclear that this blogger is a Republican. "You and your state’s Democratic policies are what have fostered this welfare, “gimme” mentality, and the rest of us are paying a very dear price for it." Because clearly Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco are "at fault" for Welfare. And they are also the first to advocate such a program, either nationally or in Louisiana. This clearly new concept is one that Ray Nagin himself concocted.

And finally, "you had them all bussed back to vote your dumbass back into office" as though the citizens of New Orleans, who's homes and lives were destroyed, were no longer granted the Democratic right to vote. Regardless of your opinion of their choice, these people are still Americans and last I checked, were granted the right to vote.


---- I know that I shouldn't let things like this get to me, but ignorance - of any form- really angers me. I absolutely respect everyone's right to an opinion, but I cannot stand people who spew random thoughts garnered from friends, the internet, TV and newspapers as fact. Even if I feel your opinions are uneducated, I still think you have the right to them. I just respect them and am more willing to listen and have discourse if the opinions have some sort of intelligent thought to back them up.